The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless telecommunication, and more particularly to an automated short message attendant that captures a spoken message for transmission to a wireless unit through a short message service.
Currently, when a wireless subscriber is not reachable, the calling party waits through a series of ring back tones and is eventually provided with an announcement indicating that the cellular subscriber cannot be reached. If the subscriber has voice mail, the call is eventually routed to the subscriber""s voice mail box where the caller listens to the subscriber""s greeting and leaves a message. The subscriber accesses voice mail messages by calling his or her voice mail box and navigating through voice response mail selection menus. If the subscriber does not have voice mail, the calling party is simply advised that the subscriber is not available and the call is terminated.
In addition to normal voice services, wireless operators offer short message services to wireless subscribers. A short message service enables a user with a short message service enabled wireless unit to receive and send the text messages over the wireless network. The short messages are typically transmitted over a control channel of the wireless network rather than a voice channel. The short message service attempts to deliver a message to a wireless unit whenever the unit is registered to the network, even when the terminal is engaged in a voice or data call.
Presently, wireless operators offer three options for sending a short message to a wireless subscriber. One option uses a dedicated human operator who enters the messages directly into a short message system center. A second option uses an interactive voice response unit that offers a limited array of predefined message options that can be navigated using the telephone keypad touch tone input. The third option uses a web-based home page that allows a user to type in a message or select from a number of predefined messages. While these options are effective in today""s market, they do have various drawbacks. The option requiring the human operator involves additional staffing costs. The voice response unit system, while cheaper to operate, is quite limited in its predefined message set. The web-based system is quite robust and does not require additional staff. However, the web based system does require the user to have access to a personal computer or other web-capable device.
Briefly stated, the present invention provides an automated short message attendant that interacts with a calling party to send a short message to a wireless unit that is unavailable to receive voice calls. According to the present invention, a mobile switching center receives a call to a wireless telephone unit and determines if the wireless telephone unit is available to receive calls. If the wireless unit is unavailable, the mobile switching center forwards the call to a wireless service node, preferably immediately and without providing any ring back tone to the calling party. The wireless service node prompts the calling party to speak a message for transmission to the wireless telephone unit. The wireless service node converts the message spoken by the calling party from a speech message to a text message and forwards text message to a short message service center for transmission to the wireless unit.
Prior to forwarding the text message to the short message service, the wireless service node may announce the text message and prompt the calling party to verify that the announced text message is the message the calling party wishes to have transmitted to the wireless unit. If the announced text message is not acceptable to the calling party, the wireless service node prompts the calling party to repeat the message. The wireless service node converts the repeated message from a speech repeated message to a text repeated message and announces the text repeated message, again giving the calling party the opportunity to verify that the announced text repeated message is the message said calling party wishes to have transmitted to said wireless unit.
The wireless service node may prompt the calling party to identify the wireless unit by prompting the calling party either to speak the name or mobile identification number of a subscriber associated with the wireless unit or to enter the mobile identification number. If the calling party speaks a name or number, the wireless service unit converts the name or number spoken by the calling party from a speech name or number to a text name or number and attempts to locate a wireless unit subscriber identified by the text name or number. The wireless service node announces the name of the located subscriber and prompts the calling party to verify that the announced name correctly identifies the subscriber for whom the calling party wishes to leave a message. If the calling party enters a number, the wireless service node locates the name of the subscriber associated with the number entered by the calling party. Then, the wireless service node announces the located name and prompts the calling party to verify that the announced name correctly identifies the subscriber for whom the calling party wishes to leave a message.